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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25498162">Misunderstandings</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaemonMeg/pseuds/DaemonMeg'>DaemonMeg</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Hint of Jasmine [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>My Engineer (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Awkward Flirting, Bad Flirting, Biracial Character, Boys In Love, First Impressions, Gay Disaster Ram, M/M, Misunderstandings, Oblivious King, Racism, Ram's POV, Slow Build</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 04:07:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,669</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25498162</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaemonMeg/pseuds/DaemonMeg</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ram's first impression of King was...not great. But the more he kept appearing the more Ram couldn't get him out of his mind. Could he have been wrong about him?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>King/Ram (My Engineer)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Hint of Jasmine [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1776655</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>167</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. First Impressions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>These are early scenes from the series written from Ram's perspective. The dialogue is from the translated subtitles. I am ever thankful to subbers who don't get nearly the credit they deserve.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ram could feel the eyes staring at him through the stacks and he tried to move to another section. Whoever the other student was, they weren’t leaving him alone. Tang had had his phone stolen from the study area just last week, so he decided to gather his books and bag and give up studying for the afternoon. One of his friends had a student worker position at the circulation desk and complained that other students would constantly reshelve books themselves and do it incorrectly, so Ram dropped his copy at the counter before heading out to the quad in front of the library.</p><p>Maybe he’d see that lab mix again. He’d seen it prowling around outside the library for the last three weeks, surviving off the trash the other students left behind at the picnic benches. <em> Yes. </em>Some ignorant seniors had dropped their leftovers on top of the bin instead of inside. It would be perfect.</p><p>Ram was still finishing arranging the lure when one of the seniors from his faculty approached. He wore the blue utility shirt that all the older engineering students had to wear.</p><p>“Looking for something to put water in?” asked the senior. “Take this.”</p><p>The other student offered him an empty cup, still cold from whatever he’d just finished, and Ram took it silently. It would work for what he needed. Sometimes the strays were more convinced with clean water instead of the sludge in the canals.</p><p>“Are you feeding some cat?”</p><p>Ram wanted to roll his eyes. Cats don’t scrounge from leftovers. And they hunt over by the Kasalong trees on the south side of campus anyway.</p><p>“Are you a first year?” he asked. “I’m not familiar with your face at all.”</p><p><em> That’s because I’ve been skipping the faculty events, </em>Ram thought.</p><p>“What? Why don’t you answer?” The other man squatted down and peered into Ram’s face. </p><p>He always hated this part. He flicked his eyes over to the other student to memorize his face so he could be sure to avoid him next time. <em> Tanned skin, silky black hair, and narrow eyes. </em>His father’s parents would have loved this guy with his ideal Thai looks.</p><p>“Mixed Race,” the other man said like it was his name. “Are you an exchange student? Can you speak Thai?” He actually waved a hand in front of Ram’s face next as though he was HOH and switched to English. “Hello, what’s your name? Where you from?” The man kept trying. “Bonjour, Konichiwa, Annyeong!” </p><p>Ram felt his blood pressure rise. This wasn’t the first time one of his university peers assumed he was an ignorant foreigner. Just as Ram was about to snap at him, the black dog he’d been courting for weeks sprinted out of the shrubs with a happy yelp and began to devour what was on the plate.</p><p>The older student yelped in fear and quickly jumped on top of the nearby table. “God I’m afraid of dogs! I thought you were feeding some cat. Make him leave.” He was hunched over in a protective, half-fetal position and made shooing motions at the stray.</p><p>“Eat slowly,” Ram said to the dog with a smile. He loved that the older student was trapped on the table. <em> Serves him right. </em></p><p>“You can speak Thai,” the other student accused. “Why didn’t you answer when I asked?”</p><p>Ram continued to ignore him as he tentatively thumped his hands against the dog’s rib cage - not too thin - and scratched behind his ears. <em> Next week I’ll bring a collar and leash, </em> he promised. The coordinator of the rescue group told him one of the foster homes had an adoption scheduled for next week - which meant an opening for new dogs. He picked up his backpack and slung it on his shoulder</p><p>“Where are you going? Bring your dog with you! Hey!! You - hey!”</p><p>Ram smiled as he heard the man’s voice rise in panic behind him. </p><p>***</p><p>Ram was going to be late to the Engineering Student Association meeting. His mentor Tee had texted him last week about it but he had totally forgotten and had double booked a meeting with his faculty advisor for the same time.</p><p><em> Yes. Yes. No. Yes. </em>Ram nodded quickly to his professor’s questions and abruptly made his escape from the faculty conference room, rushing to catch up to the other first years at the cafe. </p><p>He was still bowing when he spotted the senior from last week standing at the table next to his mentor Tee. The other man’s narrow eyes widened and he gave his greeting in return, slowly sitting down at the table.</p><p>Tee had one hand on the senior’s shoulder. “So you’re not leaving right?”</p><p>The senior shook his head no and picked up the iced fruit punch in front of him.</p><p>“Then we should continue our meeting. So how many are coming today?” Tee counted them all off.</p><p>Everyone at the table went around and introduced themselves, but thankfully, Tee told everyone his name for him. Extracurriculars weren’t his thing and Ram had only gone to the Freshy games because Duen and Phu had dragged him along.</p><p>“Hi everyone, I’m King,” said the senior when they circled around to him. He ran a hand through his hair and picked his drink back up.</p><p>“God King,” Tee interrupted with a laugh.</p><p>“And I assisted with the camp last term,” King continued with a smile.</p><p>“God King helps with all the service projects,” Tee added. “You should all listen to God King. He has the highest marks in the Engineering faculty.”</p><p>The two older students proceeded to run off a list of the past service projects their faulty had taken part in. Some of the projects included working in community gardens, visiting social services, handing out meals, etc. The freshmen at the table each volunteered to coordinate certain tasks for the camp. Ram was stuck with fundraising because he didn’t volunteer early enough in the meeting. They were all responsible with making signs for their booths on certain nights of the week. <em> Ugh. Group assignments were the absolute worst.</em></p><p>Whenever he wasn’t the one talking, King stared at Ram. He wasn’t subtle about it, so Ram stared back with his best <em> fuck off </em> look.</p><p>“To conclude, the activity for this year’s engineer volunteer camp will be planting trees in the reforestation zone, but we don’t have much time this year. I will have to ask for all your help to delegate jobs and plan it well. Ok thank you everyone.” </p><p>We all got up to leave immediately.</p><p>“You can finish your drinks,” Tee insisted, but we all ignored him. </p><p>“Oh. That went well.”</p><p>As Ram was walking away, he heard King start asking Tee about him. His name. His year in the program. Other things. Ram leaned on the wall around the corner and listened. <em> Was he going to haze Ram for leaving him with the dog? </em> </p><p><em> No </em> . It seemed like Tee was teasing King for liking weird people. So that was it. His senior was interested? Well, it wasn’t the first time someone liked him for just being mixed. Ram had lost count of the times someone had approached him for looking exotic - both here and when he went back to visit Australia over his vacations. Sometimes tourists even walked up to him on the street and said <em> what are you.</em></p><p>Too many girls and boys in highschool either hated him or had fetishized him for being biracial. Plus there was this weird prejudice towards westerners where a lot of his classmates assumed he ‘moved faster’ than his peers purely because of his mixed blood - as if he hadn’t spent most of his childhood here steeped in the same social mores. It was rare that his classmates just let him be and as a result, Ram’s friends were select and he was very protective of them.</p><p>Speaking of his friends, ugh, maybe they could help him out with the fundraising. Canvassing for donations from strangers - especially same-aged strangers - was the very last thing Ram wanted to do and it gave him anxiety just thinking about it. Maybe Duen and Tang could help him out. The med students always seemed to have pocket money compared to the engineering students.</p><p>Ram peeked around the corner to spy on where King and Tee continued to sit and bicker. He saw King help himself to all the leftover drinks at the table. <em> Hmmph.</em> What a weird man.</p><p>***</p><p>Ram owed Duen big time. His best friend had gladly taken a donation box all around the medical campus and even harassed some of the professors to donate too. He had those eye-smiles that others couldn’t resist and he promised some of what was stuffed in the box were large bills. Ram suspected it was mostly the pocket money that Duen’s dad gave him frequently, but he wouldn’t complain. In thanks, he planned to invite him along on the volunteer trip with him and Phu so it wouldn’t be such a bad trip. </p><p>“Nong!” The shout of a senior calling for a junior made Ram look around.</p><p>It was <em> his </em>senior. King. The one who likes weird people. The one who stares. If King wasn’t so hot, he’d be more pissed about it.</p><p>“You can actually speak. With long sentences, tool” King grinned at him and adjusted his bag on his shoulder. He must have overheard him speaking with Duen.</p><p>Ram just rolled his eyes, not really wanting to put up with any harassment today. He still had to turn in the donations to Tee over by the gear quad before 5 pm and he had to leave for the service activity. </p><p>“Do you know that pre-med student?” King asked. “Is he a good guy?”</p><p>Ram didn’t like to talk about his friends behind their backs so he stayed silent and tried to walk away.</p><p>King reached a hand out and grabbed the box, stopping him from leaving.</p><p>“Wait. Where are you going? I’m going to donate.” King pulled out a bill to drop it in the box. “If I analyze your personality, you will only talk to people who are close to you.”</p><p>Ram tried to leave, but was stopped by King again.</p><p>“I am still donating. Why are you still in a rush?” he teased while pulling out a larger bill. </p><p>Well, Ram wouldn’t stop him from emptying his wallet.</p><p>“Which also means if I want to talk to you, first I will have to be close to you.”</p><p>
  <em> Oh my god. Was he really trying to buy his way into Ram’s pants? </em>
</p><p>“But, how can I be close to you when you always give me this cold face? How about I start by calling you Ning so we can be a little closer. Ok?” </p><p>Ram’s Thai wasn’t as solid as Ruj’s and he had difficulty with understanding the nickname. King just called him something along the lines of Cold Face, Cool Boy, or Cold Bastard, but it didn’t matter. He didn’t like King taking liberties with him in this way.</p><p>King held out another, yet larger bill. Ram grabbed it from his hand and put it in the box himself. He was done with humoring the other man. <em>Was he just propositioned?</em> <em>Insulted? Both? </em> Ram stormed away from him to put an end to the uncomfortable interaction.</p><p>King’s shout followed him out of the courtyard. “No reply means you like this name. A’Ning!”</p><p>***</p><p>When Ram and Phu walked into the pavilion after their last class, they were surprised to see the second year students already working on the signs. Bohn was working by himself painting a large banner, Tee was rushing around assigning jobs to the freshmen, and King was trekking back and forth from the parking lot with boxes of supplies - mostly painting stuff. They were early and less than a dozen students were there altogether to help.</p><p>Phu found an unclaimed painting station and dragged Ram over. Phu unfolded a drop cloth while Ram opened the paint cans. Someone had already stenciled the letters on the sign for them and they just needed to fill them in with color. Tee stopped by and handed out old, stiff brushes and stir sticks coated in old paint - last year’s supplies, if he had to guess. There really was no sense in wasting their fundraising monies on supplies they could reuse every year.</p><p>The two set to painting and before long, he felt the strain in his knees and shoulders from hunching over their work. Tee kept making the rounds to cheer them on, but would occasionally take off, only to reappear with girls. Some would bring snacks or take turns with painting. Ram and Phu were the only first year students that had shown up, despite the meeting last week, and Ram admittedly started to feel bad for Tee.</p><p>Some girls from another faculty showed up to harass Bohn where he worked alone on his sign. He rebuffed their advances and refused their help several times. Ram could hear (honestly everyone there could hear) as Tee chased them off and then tried to console his friend about his troubles with Duen. <em> Huh. </em> King walked over shortly and the three boys spoke frankly about Bohn’s efforts to woo Duen. <em> So Bohn was serious about Duen afterall and he was being dramatically pouty about it, too.</em> Ram gestured to Phu to eavesdrop with him and Phu quickly typed something in the group chat with Ting and Tang. </p><p>Ram couldn’t help but notice that neither Tee nor King were concerned that Bohn liked another man - just that he seemed lovesick. Sure they teased him, but mostly they tried to give Bohn tips for either showing his sincerity or getting over someone who clearly felt uncomfortable with the attention. That was...mature of them. </p><p><em> Wait. Oh. That’s why King asked him about Duen earlier. Oh no. Oh shit. Bohn just called King his best friend. They were best friends? </em>Ram didn’t remember seeing King at the bar the night they all met Bohn the first time. He was surprised they were friends as they seemed so different.</p><p>Whenever Ram could, he observed King covertly when he wasn’t looking. King acted differently tonight than when they were alone together. King even seemed <em> reasonable </em> when discussing Duen with Bohn, and that immediately helped his reputation with Ram. Perhaps he had gotten the wrong impression of him.</p><p>He began to watch as King put on a smile, laughed, but turned silent whenever the focus wasn’t on him. He started to work on one of those big square ‘photo frame’ cutouts, the kind people use for photos at festivals, over on the side of the pavilion. He was in a little nook of greenery next to the Kasalong trees that separated the pavilion from the sidewalk. </p><p>It was while Ram was on his way to the supply table that King rushed up to get another crate of supplies for some volunteers that arrived late. King stepped back with arms full and stumbled on some loose boards. Ram rushed forward quickly and caught him before he could tumble to the floor. King threw a look of thanks over his shoulder and his eyes widened when he saw it was Ram who had rescued him from the spill.</p><p><em> Shy now? </em>Ram just straightened King back up onto his feet while the other man stared with mouth agape.</p><p>After their interactions earlier, the reaction was not what he had expected from King. Over the next hour, Ram felt King toss furtive glances at him where he worked side by side with Phu. King began to help some other first year students nearby on occasion and would meet his eyes again.</p><p><em> So was it real interest after all? </em>Ram shook his head and decided he would try not to jump to any conclusions. </p><p>But. </p><p>There would be no harm in looking back. King was nice to look at after all. They were about the same height, but King was built more like a dancer or martial arts guy compared to Ram’s muscled bulk. And King’s hair was sooo good. He didn’t seem to use any product either. All the guys in Ram’s friend group used pomade or some sort of mousse, but it looked like King couldn’t be bothered with it. It just looked really clean and shiny all the times that Ram had seen him. King even had this habit of running his hands through his hair that really made the tendons in his neck stand out. Oof. He needed to paint.</p><p>His mentor Tee, as always, stayed cheerful throughout the evening. He made them all pose for a photo, lamenting how much hard work they had left, and tagged several other student groups from the university. Before long, some other volunteers arrived to help and made it feel more festive. Tee even went on a food run run and they all took breaks. At one point he went to chat with one of the second year students working next to them. Ram strained his ears and he got the impression that Bohn wasn’t the only engineering student Tee was helping with heartache tonight. It appeared that more than one guy in King’s friend group was into guys. So. There was that.</p><p>It was during one of those breaks that he got the first alert on his phone, a message from someone named Than Thep. He was confused until he remembered that Tee called King that. It meant God King. He felt his ears burn and resolved not to check it until he was at home. He dismissed the chat head and concentrated <em> very hard </em> on his cup of water.</p><p>
  <em> Ding.  </em>
</p><p>Okay, so he looked this time and opened the chat head.</p><p></p><blockquote>
  <p>[Look right.]</p>
</blockquote><p>Ram looked to his right and saw King crouched in the shadows halfway hidden behind a bush. King gave him a hesitant wave from across the courtyard and bent back to his phone.</p><p></p><blockquote>
  <p>[If you don’t want to talk to me you can type instead.</p>
  <p>You ignoring me?</p>
  <p>It’s fine if you don’t want to talk to me but I will make you talk to me one day</p>
  <p>Remember this. A’Ning.]</p>
</blockquote><p>The buzz of his phone rescued him from the constant messages and he rushed off to meet his little brother. <em>Food.</em> <em>Home cooked food. </em>Ever since he moved into the dorm, he hadn’t had much time to go home. Food at the cafeteria was just okay, but he had it better than his friends that lived in off-campus apartments. </p><p>Once they met up, Ram had a hard time paying attention to Ruj and what was going on at home because his phone kept going off with more Messenger alerts. Ram’s tell-tale flush of embarrassment and obvious avoidance of checking the messages tipped off his brother in a heartbeat. His little brother broke into a wide grin and started teasing him. Ever since Ruj had found Ram’s web search history (and a stack of graphic novels hidden under his bed), he hadn’t stopped trying to find a boyfriend for Ram. Flustered, Ram grabbed the plastic sack from his brother and escaped.</p><p>“Who is it that makes you so shy?” Ruj yelled after him. <em> What a little shit. </em></p><p>***</p><p>Ruj had been right of course. Ram was embarrassed and shy but couldn’t bring himself to block King’s constant barrage of messages. To be truthful, he began to look forward to them. In the mornings, there were pics of sunrises seen from some plant-festooned balcony. In the afternoons, there were photos of campus cats lounging in sun patches near the canals. Night brought about selfies and running monologues about whatever King happened to be streaming before bed. And of course...King sent photos of plants: trees, blossoms on hedges, vines twining up drainpipes, pots on windowsills, and simple terrariums that he assumed were from King’s own home. </p><p>Ram made up his mind. This wasn’t hazing. He was being flirted with in earnest. Was he ready to play that game?</p><p>
  <em> Yes. Yes he was. </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Take 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A tutoring session leads to something more for Ram and King. These guys are disasters and bad (or the best) at flirting.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was after class one afternoon that he was forced to realize that he was decidedly crushing on King in a big way. He was buried in his Physics text deciphering practice problems at the end of the chapter when King appeared. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There are many mistakes,” King criticized from over Ram’s shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He seemed to have materialized from the trees that lined the canals. King wore his blue utility shirt open over a black t-shirt. His dark jeans were cuffed and he wore a pair of black Chuck Taylors. He had no right looking that good at the end of a school day. Ram himself was overheated, shirt untucked, and he felt the slightest drizzle of pomade slip past one ear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can at least great me, Ning,” King complained. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Again with that nickname. Ram had decided it meant Cool Boy and not Cold Bastard like he originally thought.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing? Work from Mr. Wichai?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ram wanted to groan. The last thing he wanted was the smartest guy in Engineering to see how poorly he was doing in an entry-level course.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let me teach you, okay? Here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ram tried to hold his worksheet back, embarrassed to let King see how many times he’d written and erased his work. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ugh</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He just wanted to bury his head on the table. This could not be happening right now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What? You don’t want me to teach you?” King asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They tugged the worksheets back and forth between them a few times.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Grab it. Tear it off. Then you’ll have nothing to submit,” King threatened.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ram noticed how cute King’s eyes looked as they shined with the challenge and he let go abruptly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s it, let me see.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ram didn’t need to talk while King tutored him. He just nodded or shook his head and occasionally just pointed to the page when he had problems. He pointed at the page a lot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If Ram were honest, he was having trouble concentrating with King leaning into his space to look at the notebook while they answered formulas. After he got a third problem in a row wrong, King scooted even closer and helped him through the rest of the sample problems and then gave him an overview of half the next chapter. They’d burned the better part of the evening by the time they called it quits.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>King sat so close to him that their shoulders pressed against each other. After the first few minutes of working, Ram let his right knee lean to the side a bit and it bumped into King under the table. Ram held his breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>King did not move his knee or scoot away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ram started breathing normally again but he felt a traitorous blush creep up his neck and stain his ears a bright red. He stole a few glances at King’s face but he seemed unaffected while he focused on the math of the physics problems.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When King was helping him with the formulas he was just so </span>
  <em>
    <span>nice.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Okay, if Ram were honest, he needed the most help with the word problems as he still used Google translate for some of the words. But that aside, it was actually a very nice evening and he didn’t want to stop being with King just yet. Ram’s phone was filled with photos and short messages and running monologues all from King and now that he was sitting next to him at the picnic table it felt, well, intimate wasn’t the word he was looking for but it was pretty close. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now it’s all correct. I told you it’s easy!” King reassured him. “All you need to do is memorize the formula.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was easy for King to say when he understood everything in the word problems that gave hints for which formula to use.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>King stayed sitting beside him while he closed up his notebooks and text and packed his bag. They were so close that Ram could feel the hairs on King’s forearm stand on end as their arms were still in contact.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>King started tapping his fingers on the tabletop and pressed his mouth together a few times as if he wanted to say something before finally blurting, “If there’s nothing, I’ll leave now.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>King paused and stared at Ram as if waiting for a response. “See ya,” King said finally and stood up.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Whew. Just do it.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Ram reached out and captured King’s arm as he was getting up from the picnic table. King looked back at the interruption and met his eyes. Ram let his hand slide down King’s forearm before closing around his wrist. He felt King’s pulse quicken. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh god. Why was he so bad at this?</span>
  </em>
  <span> He didn’t trust himself to say anything but King didn’t try to shake him off so that was a good sign.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s going on? What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Stay. Come with me, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Ram wanted to say. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He felt his mouth go dry and swallowed a lump in his throat. Ram gestured with his eyebrows and put a small smile on his face. He didn’t let go of King’s wrist.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, where are we going?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>King’s voice switched from confused to playful. “Ning! Where are you taking me?” He bit his lip and waggled his eyebrows at Ram.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ram just rolled his eyes and pulled him from the quad. He let go when they hit the sidewalk and King walked alongside, peppering him with guesses about where they were going. He chattered nonstop for about fifteen minutes. The only time King balked at following him was when they encountered a stray wandering one of the sidewalks on their way. Ram held him and put his body between King and the barking dog as they rushed past.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They arrived at Ram’s favorite restaurant just before the dinner rush. It was owned by his friend’s parents and was one of several just like it that peppered the neighborhoods surrounding campus. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was wondering where you were taking me,” King said. “You want to thank me with a meal,” he guessed.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You guessed wrong,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Ram thought. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I just wanted to look at you some more.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Going to eat was a nice option. With his mouth full from eating, he wouldn’t feel pressured to talk. And he could sit across from King and look openly rather than steal sideways glances. Not that he would admit it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They took an open table and the waitress came when King called out to order.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The waitress that hurried over was Ram’s friend LeeLee. She used to hang out with Ram and all of his friends in high school and had been close with Ting. But when they’d all gone to university, LeeLee’s parents made her stay and work at the restaurant. As far as Ram knew, he was the only one in his friend group that still saw LeeLee somewhat regularly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She smirked at Ram as she gave them both their ordering pads. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Uh oh. What was she up to?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>While they waited for their food, King thanked him for helping him out when the stray dog wandered by on their way here. King was pretty open and frank about how terrified he was and went on to talk about the dog attack he suffered as a child. It seemed pretty traumatic and Ram immediately felt guilty about their first meeting. King didn’t mention the day Ram abandoned him on the picnic table by the library and he surely didn’t want to remind him of that. Based on King’s behavior on their way here, it seems that dogs were still very triggering for him. Ram felt grateful that King even talked about it with him and didn’t seem to hold a grudge for what happened that first time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>LeeLee brought them their order and then came back again. She plopped down a dish of Gai Pad King right in front of Ram. He glared at her. She knew he didn’t eat ginger. What was she playing at?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>King looked at it in confusion. “This,” he said and pointed at it with his chopsticks. “My friend didn’t order it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is on me,” LeeLee said. “Can I exchange it for your line ID?” She clasped her hands together and swung back and forth like a little girl with a crush.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ugh. Did LeeLee have to embarrass him in front of King?</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Ram looked across the table and saw that King was clueless. He thought the waitress was truthfully hitting on him. He seemed to be waiting to see if Ram would flirt back and give his ID. He glared at LeeLee, too embarrassed to explain to King. </span>
  <em>
    <span>We’ll talk later, </span>
  </em>
  <span>his glower promised LeeLee.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>King seemed uncomfortable with the exchange and took pity on the waitress. “I’ll eat this for you then,” he offered and went to take a bite from the dish.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>LeeLee faked a frown and quickly picked the plate back up. Her mission had failed whatever it was. Ram was sure another table was waiting for that dish and she had to hurry and take it to whoever ordered it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A’Ning! You have to be more subtle about rejecting,” King complained. “I don’t even dare to order juice now.” Then King went on to say, “She was really pretty, you shouldn’t have been shy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Uh oh. Had Ram not been clear enough? Was King checking if he liked women instead? He needed to figure out a way to signal him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you always eat alone?” King asked. “If you don’t want to talk to me, you can also nod or shake your head.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He looked up to meet King’s eyes. Ram felt grateful. He really didn’t like speaking in public and the restaurant was really filling up with the dinner rush.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you always eat alone?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>King grimaced at that. “Aren’t you lonely? Food doesn’t taste good when you eat alone.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wasn’t alone now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You have to eat with friends. Don’t you know the feeling of snatching food? You don’t, right?” King reached over and grabbed some of Ram’s dish.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>King started to moan, faking the ecstasy of enjoying the bite too much. Did he even know how that made his face look? Ram just stared at him while King had his eyes still closed, licking his lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The food you snatch is the yummiest. Here take this,” King went on, putting some stir-fried ginger on Ram’s plate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ram stared at it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>King pointed at the ginger. “Because you’re my junior. Are you shy? Don’t be. Eat it. Eat it. Hurry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ram picked it up carefully and began to chew. He tried to control the expression on his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s good, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He swallowed hard and got his phone out and quickly typed in English. He looked up at King to watch for his reaction.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>[Actually, I don’t eat ginger but I’m willing to eat King because you gave it to me.]</span>
</p><p>
  <span>King looked up in shock and Ram quickly bent down to eat again. He felt the usual flush creep up his neck while he concentrated on chewing. He couldn’t believe he just sent that text. He might as well have just said, </span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m gay for you. Let’s go bang in your car after this.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Well. At least Ram made his intentions clear. Only a dumbass wouldn’t get that and King was the smartest guy in Engineering.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After Ram paid for dinner, he offered to walk King back to his car on the lot near campus. King chatted for both of them as their steps slowed on the walk back. The sun had gone down while they ate and it was very beautiful out. Their arms and shoulders bumped several times on the way back and Ram noticed that King never pulled back from that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you have questions you can text me to ask,” King was saying.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh. Ram must’ve been daydreaming. King was talking about math and physics again. Most importantly, King wanted Ram to text him. Even after - well - even after that really cheesy pick up line Ram used earlier.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>King put his hand on Ram’s back and patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t mind that,” he said. His hand lingered on Ram’s back until a ring from King’s pocket interrupted. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>While King took the phone call from his mom, Ram got the idea to run back into the restaurant really quickly to get him the juice he wanted earlier. He saw his friend helping a customer at the register so he rushed back to the kitchen himself. Her family was used to it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“LeeLee! I’m grabbing this!” Ram tossed 50 baht at her and grabbed a juice from the cooler. “And what was that stunt earlier?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that for your faen?” LeeLee teased. “I was trying to help you and make him jealous. It didn’t look like you were making much progress.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Make him jealous? I’m not twelve. Who even does that any more?” Ram rushed back out, trying to make it back to King before he got off the phone. “See ya!” he called over his shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sprinted back to where King was just hanging up. He shuddered to a halt right in front of him and held out the juice bottle. Ram felt out of breath and his hair stuck to his forehead in a sweaty mess. King took the proffered drink from his hand and Ram suddenly felt like a middle-schooler that left chocolate and other sweets on a crush’s desk. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He rushed off, embarrassed to stick around, and typed a text instead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>[Thank you for teaching me.] </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t a total success, but Ram still felt good about the night. He took King to dinner, King opened up about his past and flirted non-stop, Ram declared his interest, and King asked him to keep texting him. Not bad for a first date but significantly better than other first dates he’d been on.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>King is the English phonetic spelling of the Thai word for ginger (sometimes also spelled as khing but less frequently). Ram used a multilingual pun to flirt and confess his interest and it bombed terribly because King is oblivious. But Ram doesn’t know yet that King is an oblivious disaster.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much for reading! I cannot get this pair out of my head and I find myself thinking back to their early interactions and imagining what it was that helped them fall for each other (aside from young hormones!). For me, I love that little period at the beginning of interest between two people where there's something going on and you're still trying to figure things out. More to come when work allows.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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